Did you know there is a documentary coming up based on the Underground Bhojpuri music scene? That too, in particular to the migrants based in Mumbai?
Titled Bidesiya in Bambai, this venture seeks to highlight the fact of how music is helping the Bhojpuri community find a sense of identity for themselves (those who live in Mumbai).
Surabhi Sharma, a well known documentary film maker is the brainchild for this project too. Sharma with this documentary aims to bring to light the tiff between amchi Mumbaikars and the city’s migrants, and the thriving industry of the Bhojpuri underground music on the other hand which thus has resulted in churning the best singers being used even for films! Bidesiya in Bambai follows the life of two singers: a taxi-driver chasing his first record deal and Kalpana, the star of the industry.
With male singers dominating the Bhojpuri music domain, it is not to be forgotten that the Bhojpuri music in the city of Mumbai is more of the well-liked kind, broadly classified into religious songs, songs with heavy sexual undertones, and songs that talk about leading a life like a nomad. The performances are largely attended by men and are very interactive, involving a lot of interaction with the audience. The director’s interest in Bhojpuri music began during her work on her 2008 film Jahaji Music: India in the Caribbean. Having spent atleast the last three years researching on Bhojpuri folk music and that is when Bhojpuri migrant’s city became visible to her and the locations started imposing themselves on her recordings. There was a show in Thane, in a new slum settlement, where local leaders kept trying to boost people’s spirits. Her extensive research has taken her to every nook and corner of the city . Infact , even she herself has attended concerts held in slums, in single-room houses, on open grounds and during the Chatthh Puja. As she was documenting various performances, she was able to tap a very famous Bhojpuri singer who was recording an album in her studio at Adarsh Nagar in Andheri. The place was once the centre of the Bhojpuri music and video production before it was demolished. Despite these setbacks, the music continues. Such is the scene of Bhojpuri music in Mumbai.
‘Music’ as such has been very central to the Bhojpuri culture as such and in a way helps the community connect and more establish the clan as a whole in the city. But one should remember that their deeply hurt sentiments of chiding by the Mumbai residents has what made them flourish in the underground scene? This is when the question rises? Why is there a partition in the country even in terms of music? With a variety of music that is sung state – state when is the time going to come where one type of music will be accepted throughout? Music has no divide was what we were thought; but with the need to bring up such lost traces of music in itself shows how the lack of acceptance throughout lets it sink in the graph of music as an art.
Will this documentary in a way help the migrants? Are amchi Mumbaikars ready to welcome a change? Let alone that, will such a documentary backed with such good research and hard work from the director be accepted and allowed for screening in the State? With politics and films and social issues being clubbed together, it is time to think what is the current underground music scene in India? Thus the debate of politics over art continues. And well for all the documentary lovers, this is one that you should keep a tab on.
